1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of mobile communications and more particularly to improved methods and systems for information delivery associated with a telecommunications network.
2) Discussion of the Related Art
Because of an increasing popularity of communication devices, such as mobile phones, a growing need exists for providing messaging services, such as advertising messaging services, to users of such communication devices. Existing technologies allow a phone switch to play messages during a phone call. The phone switch can play a recorded message, such as an advertising message, in place of a ring-back tone.
Common architecture for providing custom ring-back tone includes a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), a Home Location Register (HLR), and a ring-back tone generator (RBTG). In this architecture, software in a network MSC, in conjunction with the Home Location Register (HLR), identifies which received calls have been placed by or to corresponding subscribers of the ring-back service. The MSC sets up a voice path to the RBTG for conveying a ring-back tone to the recipient while also placing an outbound call connection to alert the called party. A RBTG is also conveyed in situations where the recipient has received a busy signal after connecting to the called party, indicating that the called party is busy.
The RBTG then plays the selected audio message back to the recipient through the voice path while the called party phone is alerted of the incoming call connection request. After detecting that the called party answers the phone, the MSC breaks a link to the RBTG and bridges the recipient phone to the called party phone via a voice communication channel so that the recipient and the called party can talk with each other without the custom ring-back tone being played.
Current methods and systems are ineffective when it comes to communicating customer service messages to mobile subscribers. While methods deliver advertisements to the recipient based cursory or preliminary information, such methods fall flat when those who want to deliver advertisements want to definitively target their advertisements or communicate effectively to a subscriber. Further, such third parties are at a loss when it comes to feedback from any delivery undertaken to such a subscriber.